Queen Victoria’s official diamond jubilee photo up for auction

The official photograph chosen and signed by Queen Victoria to mark her 1897 Diamond Jubilee has gone under the hammer here and is expected to sell for over £1,000. The cabinet photo which measures 5 1/2 x 4” is mounted on thick cardboard and is being auctioned by Guernsey-based boutique online auction business PFC Auctions. The photograph – which was taken by studio photographers W & D Downey in July 1893 at the wedding of the future King George V and Queen Mary – was selected as the favourite by the Queen herself, and released as the official image of her Diamond Jubilee on 22 June 1897, the Daily Mail reported. Signed by the Queen herself on the front, the reverse of the photo bears the handwritten message: ‘Messrs W & D Downey, London, this is the particular photograph selected by the Queen in accordance with my letter of 9th April 1897, Arthur Bigge’. Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Bigge, 1st Baron Stamfordham, was Queen Victoria’s private secretary during the final years of her reign. The item has slight wear at the edges but is otherwise in in fine condition with a crisp signature.

Queen Victoria reigned Britain from 1837 until her death in 1901. She was the first British Monarch to celebrate a Diamond Jubilee, and is the only one besides Queen Elizabeth II to have celebrated the event.